Toy telephone



March 6, 1934. A E 1,949,852

TOY TELEPHONE Filed May 28, 1931 I 47' RNEY Patented Mar. 6, 1934 UNITED STATES FATENT OFFICE TOY TELEPHONE Application May 28, 1931, Serial No. 540,818

7 Claims.

My invention relates to that class of toys that are made to resemble a regular set of telephone instruments, and an object of my invention, among others, is the provision of a toy of this class that shall appear like the latest types of telephones equipped with the principal features of such telephones, and that shall be comparatively inexpensive in construction and sightly in appearance.

Forms of toy telephones embodying my invention, and in the construction and use or which the objects herein set out, as well as others, may be attained are illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a side view of one form of my improved toy telephone.

Figure 2 is a view in section through the base on a plane passing lengthwise through the axis of the gong.

Figure 3 is a view in section on a plane denoted by the dotted line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure .4 is a similar view on a plane denoted by the dotted line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a view in vertical section on a plane passing lengthwise through the axis of the gong said plane being located at right angles to the plane of view of Figure 2.

Figure 6 is a side View of the base portion of a toy telephone illustrating a little different form of construction.

Figure '7 is a top view of a portion of the base of the toy telephone shown in Figure 6 and with parts broken away to show construction.

Figure 8 is a view of my improved telephone base with parts broken away on a plane passing centrally through the shaft of the gong arbor and showing a little different form of construction from that illustrated in the preceding views.

Figure 9 is a view in section on a plane denoted by the dotted line 99 of Figure 8.

Figure 10 is a detail view showing the numerals placed directly upon the base of the telephone surrounding the gong.

In the accompanying drawing the numeral 10 denotes the base of my improved toy telephone set, which base is generally round when viewed from above and which is preferably formed from sheet metal stamped to dish shape when turned bottom side up and having a slanting table 11 at the front portion thereof. A post 12 rises from the base back of the table 11, said post being secured in place as by means of a screw threaded rod, the headed end of which only is shown in Figure 5, said rod extending through a bracket 5 13, through said post and through the top of the base with its headed end in contact with the under side of the base and its opposite end having a screw thread to receive a nut in a manner that will be readily understood.

The toy herein shown is of the so-called French 0 3 type of telephone, and the bracket 13 has a pair of fingers 14 at each end to receive a telephone hand set comprising a hand piece 15 with a receiver 16 at one end and a transmitter (not shown) at the opposite end.

An arbor 17 is rotatably supported in the table 11 of the base, rising therefrom and having a gong 18 secured at its outer end. The lower end of the arbor is shouldered to receive an actuating wheel 19 underneath the base, said wheel being secured in place as by means of a nut fitting the screw threaded end of the arbor. Said'arbor has another shoulder to rest upon the top of the table 11, said shoulders being located a distance apart slightly greater than the thickness of the table so that when the nut is screwed to place to hold the wheel 19 the shaft will be loose enough in the table for free turning movement therein.

The wheel 19 is a star wheel, and a striker bar 20 is mounted for sliding reciprocating movement on the base or table 11. Said bar has a slot, 21 through which a reduced part of the arbor 17 extends to permit a sliding movement of said bar, the latter being upturned at its ends to create strikers 22 located opposite the lower part of the flange or rim constituting the periphery of the gong i8. Openings are formed in opposite ends of the bar 20 and guide and striker lugs 23 are bent outwardly from said openings and extend through slots 24 in the table 11, and as shown in Figure 2 of the drawing. These lugs are located for engagement with the edge of the actuating wheel 19, said lugs being at such distance apart that when one lug is riding over a point of the star or actuating wheel the lug at the opposite end of the bar will be riding in a conoaved portion of the edge of said wheel between the points thereof.

The gong is placed on a slanting portion of, the base of the telephone in the place of the dial of a regular telephone set and is rotated by the child as by means of a knob 29 secured to the arbor 17 the gong being thereby sounded to imitate a signal, and in simulating operations with a regular telephone set the hand set is taken from its 05 bracket and the receiver is placed against 'the ear with the transmitter located in front of the mouth.

In that form of the device shown in Figures 6 and '7 all of the instrument, with the exception of the signalling mechanism, is the same as hereinbefore described. A frame 25 in the form of a ring is secured to and spaced from the base as by means of legs 26, the frame including a flange 27 5 within which a gong 28 is rotatably mounted.

Said gong is secured to an arbor 30 that is rotatably attached to the base in a manner similar to that hereinbefore described with respect to the arbor 17 with its flange 31 extending downwardly within the frame.

A striker 32 is secured at the end of an arm 33 extending from a pallet 34 pivotally mounted on the table 11 and having its teeth engaged with the teeth of a scape wheel 35 whereby as the gong is rotated the striker will be vibrated to strike the gong, and the latter may be rotated in either direction.

In the form of the device illustrated in Figures 8 and 9 the base and other parts of the telephone are the same as illustrated and described with respect to Figure 1. The gong 36 is the same as hereinbefore described, and itsarbor 37 is rotatably mounted in the base and is rotated in one direction as by means of a spring 38 located underneath the table 11, one end of the spring be- "ing secured to the arbor and the other end of the spring being secured to a finger 39 bent downwardly from an opening in said table.

In the device as shown in Figures 6-7 numerals are displayed on the top of the frame 25. In that form of the device shown in Figure 10 the gong 18 is secured to the arbor 17 as in the pre ceding figures, but instead of placing the numerals on the frame as in Figs. 6-7, I place said .numerals directly upon the base by displaying them on the table 11, the gong being located with in the circle bounded by the figures, and the latter being located around the gong near its periphery.

A ratchet wheel 40 is secured to the arbor 37 and is engaged by a spring pressed pawl 41 secured to a gear 42 loosely mounted on the arbor. Said gear meshes with a pinion 43 secured to an arbor 44 mounted in plates 45-46, the former be- .ing secured to and spaced from the table 11 and the plate 46 being supported by and spaced from the plate 45 as by means of pillars in a manner common to clock movements. A scape wheel 47 is secured to the pinion 43 the teeth of said wheel meshing with the teeth of a pallet 48 pivotally mounted on the plate 46 and having an arm extending therefrom and bearing a striker 49 at its outer end adapted to strike the rim of the gong 36 in a manner that will be readily understood. In this form of the device the gong is rotated in one direction without efiect upon the striking movement, and said gong is reversed in its rotat ing movement by means of the spring operating upon the arbor which, in this reverse movement, actuates the striking mechanism.

' It is my intent to substitute the striking mechanism shown in either of the figures herein for that shown in any other of said figures, that is, a sliding striker may be used in any of such mechanisms, a pallet and scape wheel mechanism may be used where desired and the means for operating the striking mechanism in the rotation of the gong in one direction only may be incorporated in either of the mechanisms. 45 is an important feature of the invention, as it provides, in connection with the table 11, a stable support for the arbor 37 and much more rigid The plate than would be the case if the arbor were supported in the metal of the comparatively thin table alone.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes I have described the principles of operation of my invention together with the device which I now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof; but I desire to have it understood that the device shown is only illustrative, and that the invention may be carried out by other means and applied to uses other than those above set out.

I claim:

1. A toy telephone including a base, means on said base to support toy telephone members, an arbor rotatably supported by said base, a gong secured to said arbor and constituting an actuating member, a striker mounted for reciprocating movement on said base, and an operative connection between said striker and said gong, said connection including a member secured to said shaft independently of the gong for transmission of power from the gong when rotated to operate the striker.

2. A toy telephone including a base, means on said base to support toy telephone members, an arbor rotatably supported by said base, a gong secured to said arbor, a ring spaced from and rigidly secured to said base and surrounding said gong and having indicating characters thereon, striking mechanism supported by said base within said gong, and an operative connection between said gong and striking mechanism.

3. A toy telephone including a base, means on said base to support toy telephone members, an arbor rotatably supported by said base, a gong secured to said arbor to actuate it, a ring secured to said base and surrounding said gong and having indicating characters thereon, legs supporting said ring at a distance from the base, an actuating wheel secured to said arbor, and a striker movably supported by said base and operatively connected with said actuating wheel for operation thereby.

4. A toy telephone including a base, means on said base to support toy telephone members, an arbor rotatably supported by said base, a gong secured to said arbor, a ring secured to said base and surrounding said gong and having indicating characters thereon, striking mechanism supported by said base and including a striker located within said gong, and means for operating the striker by rotation of the gong.

5. A toy telephone including a base, means on said base to support toy telephone members, a gong rotatably attached to said base, and indicating characters surrounding said gong outside of the periphery thereof.

6. A toy telephone including a base, means on said base to support toy telephone members, a gong rotatably attached to said base, and indicating characters borne by said base and surrounding said gong outside of the periphery thereof.

7. A toy telephone including a base, means on said base to support toy telephone members, an

arbor rotatably supported by the base, a gong secured to said arbor, a striker mounted for reciprocating sliding movement on said base, and an operative connection between said arbor and said striker for operation of the latter by the former.

HAROLD D; ALLEN. 

